Woman breaks down after Butterworth court grants RM240,000 bail in forced labour trafficking case

“KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — A couple accused of trafficking Indonesian women for forced labour pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court in Butterworth yesterday and were granted bail totalling RM240,000. National daily Utusan Malaysia reported that Chan Koon Pheng, 40, and her husband, Tan Kok Teong, 42, entered their pleas after the charges were read before Judge Ooi Sheow Yean. According to the charges, Chan and Tan face nine counts of trafficking Indonesian women for the purpose of forced labour between August 2025 and May this year at several locations in the North-east, South-west and Central Seberang Perai districts. They were charged under Section 12 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine upon conviction. Utusan Malaysia said that in separate proceedings before the same court, Chan also pleaded not guilty to four additional charges of a similar nature, including two before Judge Roslan Hamid. The prosecution was led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Jun Keong, while the couple were represented by lawyer Arvend Rajan. During the proceedings, Lee asked the court to set bail at RM20,000 for each charge and sought several additional conditions to be imposed on the accused. Arvend, however, requested a lower bail amount, arguing that Chan was the family’s main breadwinner and earned between RM3,000 and RM5,000 a month. After hearing submissions from both sides, Ooi set bail at RM10,000 with one surety for each charge, bringing the total bail amount to RM240,000. Chan became emotional after the court fixed the bail amount and was seen urging family members to help raise the money required for her release. Ooi fixed June 30 for case management pending the submission of documents, while Roslan scheduled July 2 for further mention of the charges before his court.

Summary generated from the RSS feed of Malay Mail Education. All article rights belong to the original publisher. Click through to read the full piece on www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia.